Waiting For The Warmup

The Field Report

With the central Illinois prairie covered with snow, Trent sat down in his warm office to look back and ahead. 2018 “was a decent year, but not a record-breaker. We had good weather and good production, but the markets were not friendly.” Trent continued by observing that the federal government shutdown has stopped USDA crop reports so the markets have no current information about final yield figures, export sales, status of various inventories, and similar information which ordinarily moves the market. Without the current reports, the markets are in a holding pattern, unsure of direction.

March 2014

Trent is resigned to slow waiting for the soil to dry out and warm up.

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Snow on March 25, 2014 in Piatt County, Illinois
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The frost depth was 8 inches as recently as February 25 and is now about two inches. This persistent frost depth has inhibited the movement of water in the soil. Enough water has penetrated to raise the subsoil moisture to “abnormally dry” from the “moderate drouth” rating that was in place for many months. Unfortunately, the frost from the fourth-coldest winter in Illinois history has kept most of the recent heavy rain and snowmelt in the upper few inches of soil, which are now too muddy to till.

Trent has been doing chores like picking up rocks, because it is too cold at night, and too wet, to plant. Trent is hoping to begin planting right after Easter, April 20, but could be forced to wait until May 1 for the soil temperature to reach 50 degrees. That temperature is needed for fast germination and a vigorous start for the young corn plants.

Trent has fall-applied most of his fertilizer, so he will be “going a little heavy on corn” although soybeans are a little more profitable in today’s market. But the fertilizer is already in the ground, so he will follow his existing plan. Recent ag industry issues about who owns the data from a particular farm field are not an issue for Trent. “If I don’t give my data to my fertilizer guy, what good does it do me?” Trent remarked.